Schooling America

How the Public Schools Meet the Nation's Changing Needs

Patricia Albjerg Graham

Description

In this informative volume, Patricia Graham, one of America's most esteemed historians of education, offers a vibrant history of American education in the last century. Drawing on a wide array of sources, from government reports to colorful anecdotes, Graham skillfully illustrates Americans' changing demands for our schools, and how schools have responded by providing what critics want, though never as completely or as quickly as they would like.

In 1900, as waves of immigrants arrived, the American public wanted schools to assimilate students into American life, combining the basics of English and arithmetic with emphasis on patriotism, hard work, fair play, and honesty. In the 1920s, the focus shifted from schools serving a national need to serving individual needs; education was to help children adjust to life. By 1954 the emphasis moved to access, particularly for African-American children to desegregated classrooms, but also access to special programs for the gifted, the poor, the disabled, and non-English speakers. Now Americans want achievement for all, defined as higher test scores. While presenting this intricate history, Graham introduces us to the passionate educators, scholars, and journalists who drove particular agendas, as well as her own family, starting with her immigrant father's first day of school and ending with her own experiences as a teacher.

Invaluable background in the ongoing debate on education in the United States, this book offers an insightful look at what the public has sought from its educational institutions, what educators have delivered, and what remains to be done.

Schooling America

How the Public Schools Meet the Nation's Changing Needs

Patricia Albjerg Graham

Author Information

Patricia Albjerg Graham is the Charles Warren Research Professor of the History of American Education at Harvard University and formerly Director of the National Institute of Education. She is president of the Spencer Foundation, the nation's leading funder of educational research.

Schooling America

How the Public Schools Meet the Nation's Changing Needs

Patricia Albjerg Graham

Reviews and Awards

A finalist for the ForeWord 2005 Book of the Year Award (Education)

"One of the country's most respected historians of education presents a compelling picture of how and why American schooling changed over the last, tumultuous century. Using a wide range of sources, from government reports to personal anecdotes, the former dean of Harvard University's graduate school of education shows readers how historical forces such as immigration, industrialization, and the civil rights movement shaped and reshaped the public's expectations of what schools should be and how they should operate. Her historical insights provide a valuable backdrop for the study of current debates."--Education Week

"Schooling America is an admirably informative, sensible and balanced account of how schools and colleges in the United States have developed since 1900, written by one of the most informed and thoughtful scholars of education in the United States."--Derek Bok, President Emeritus, Harvard University

"A thoughtful, insightful analysis by a brilliant scholar and educational leader. Must reading for everyone who cares about our public schools."--Donna Shalala, President, University of Miami

"In her provocative and tremendously optimistic book on American education, Pat Graham provides a wonderful history of education reform and does not stop there. Rather than focusing on the failings of our school system, she celebrates the promise of youth and challenges us to be bold in our thinking as we go forward. Schooling America is a must-read for anyone who wishes to be touched by Graham's high hopes for the advancement of our children and the future of our country."--Ramon Cortines, former Chancellor of New York City Schools

"An outstanding and immensely readable book about values and opportunity in America dressed in the cloth of education history. Pat Graham again demonstrates her scholarship, clear insight and the priority and hope she always reserves for children whom we have historically failed in our schools."--David Hornbeck, President, Children's Defense Fund

"Pat Graham ably and eloquently reminds us that public education is a constantly unfolding national commitment and that the duties and responsibilities of educators, policymakers, parents, students and citizens evolve and respond to shifting political, social, economic, and ideological forces. Schooling America, written by a keen-eyed observer and analyst, draws the reader into a guided journey that explores how our nation's schools are adapting to the challenge, and unfulfilled promise, of providing universal, free, and high-quality public education for every child in every classroom."--Wendy D. Puriefoy, President, Public Education Network

"Schooling America is a readable, intelligent, and well-informed synthesis of the history of American education."--Diane Ravitch, Research Professor of Education, New York University; author of The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn